This book focuses on the global quality of the design of systems that people interact with during their work activities and daily lives; a quality that involves the globality of people's experience - physical, sensory, cognitive and emotional. It presents a concise and structured overview of the ergonomic approach to planning, and of methodological and operational tools from ergonomic research that can more directly and concretely contribute to the design process. The book also explores physical ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics, which are essential components of design culture. The final section addresses the main design problems and intervention criteria regarding the design of environments, products and equipment, as well as the design of communication, training and learning interface systems based on digital technologies. The book is chiefly intended for designers and anyone interested in the methods, tools and opportunities for in-depth analysis and development that ergonomics can offer regarding the conception, production and testing of products, environments and services, whether physical or virtual. It also offers a learning resource for professionals and students in Industrial Design and Planning.

This book presents a rich compilation of real-world cases on digitalization, the goal being to share first-hand insights from respected organizations and to make digitalization more tangible. As virtually every economic and societal sector is now being challenged by emerging technologies, the digital economy is a highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous place - and one that holds substantial challenges and opportunities for established organizations. Against this backdrop, this book reports on best practices and lessons learned from organizations that have succeeded in overcoming the challenges and seizing the opportunities of the digital economy. It illustrates how twenty-one organizations have leveraged their capabilities to create disruptive innovations, to develop digital business models, and to digitally transform themselves. These cases stem from various industries (e.g. automotive, insurance, consulting, and public services) and countries, reflecting the many facets of digitalization. As all case descriptions follow a uniform schema, they are easily accessible, and provide insightful examples for practitioners as well as interesting cases for researchers, teachers and students. Digitalization is reshaping business on a global scale, and it is evident that organizations must transform to thrive in the digital economy. Digitalization Cases provides first-hand insights into the efforts of renowned companies. The presented actions, results, and lessons learned are a great inspiration for managers, students, and academics. Anna Kopp, Head of IT Germany, Microsoft Understanding digitalization in all its facets requires knowledge about its opportunities and challenges in different contexts. Providing 21 cases from different companies all around the world, Digitalization Cases makes an important contribution toward the comprehensibility of digitalization - from a practical and a scientific point of view. Dorothy Leidner, Ferguson Professor of Information Systems, Baylor University This book is a great source of inspiration and insight on how to drive digitalization. It shows easy to understand good practice examples which illustrate opportunities, and at the same time helps to learn what needs to be done to realize them. I consider this book a must-read for every practitioner who cares about digitalization. Martin Petry, Chief Information Officer and Head of Business Excellence, Hilti

This book is the first of two volumes presenting a business model to add value through Procurement. Including several case studies of successful implementation, it demonstrates how the increasing complexity of the business environment requires a significant intervention on the management of processes and information within individual organizations and through inter-company relations. Agile Procurement presents the application of the Agile method which optimises and digitizes processes in order to reduce wastage and defects. As a method, tool and a culture aimed at effectiveness, efficiency and economy of organisations, agile procurement requires a change of paradigm. This volume examines these areas of improvement and presents best practice in improving processes. Each chapter of the book presents and substantiates the costs and benefits of process improvement through agile procurement. This is is seen as the integration of Lean Six Sigma and digitization.

Boasts an impressive author list from multiple disciplinary and geographical backgrounds. Explores a wide range of issues, including economic growth, youth employment, gender, regulatory frameworks, business environments, entrepreneurship, and interest-driven power politics. Adds much-needed perspectives to the debates that shape both Europe's and Africa's digital transformation and innovation environments.

Although largely unseen, the industrial revolution taking place before us is picking up steam dramatically. Dissolution of traditional global trading partnerships, the effect of COVID-19 on supply chains and the formation of new trading blocks, such as China's Belt and Road initiatives, are creating turmoil and rapid change in the international business domain. Continual advances in technology, health treatments, political and societal change are underpinning these transformations. It is unclear just how this revolution will unfold or what the role of the corporation will be in the long run. This book helps us navigate through these challenging times by identifying areas where opportunities will develop. Written by highly qualified experts from a diverse range of backgrounds, the book takes a novel backcast view to present more critical arguments. The book has been set in the not-so-distant future, reflecting back on the changes that have led to a new type of corporation and the conditions that have led to it. Each chapter presents a complimentary view about the nature of and context for the 2040 Future Corporation. The back casting perspective will provide a very effective discipline for readers to analyse contemporary trends while presenting an integrated and balanced future perspective.

While innovation can be defined in many ways, the author sees it as a process. It is not the sudden eureka moment in the middle of the night, nor is it a clear and linear path towards a final destination. Instead, it involves a strong sense of creativity and curiosity. An innovative mind has a natural inclination towards out-of-the-box thinking. It involves a willingness to try something new, without fear or judgment, to develop something no one else has ever articulated. While the mindset comes naturally, it requires fuel to keep it running. Innovators are voracious readers and researchers. They feed their mindset all of the fuel it needs to stay informed and relevant in their field. Many of the same things can be said for the Lean mindset. Lean management doesn't happen overnight, and it is very rarely a clear and linear path to true Lean thinking. Some might consider Lean a subset of innovative thinking, while others see it in reverse. Regardless of the relationship's directionality, one thing is certain: You cannot have one without the other. This book follows John Riley, the CEO of a medium-sized valve company just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who will stop at nothing to create an innovative work environment. Through the ups and downs of his journey, he learns a number of Lean and innovative skills, strategies, and mindsets to help him build the business he's always envisioned for himself. Throughout the book, you see examples of both strong and poor innovative leadership skills demonstrated by each of the main characters. The key messages are ones that help leaders build and access a mindset insistent on continuous improvement. Leadership techniques and abilities that bolster creative thought and problem-solving are the most successful throughout this book. To be truly innovative, you can never stop driving the learning process. For this to happen, leaders need to recognize when there is a need for a change or improvement. This is the beauty of the marriage between Lean and innovation: They both require continuous learning and growth. The desire to improve is only one piece of this equation, however. The other is the willingness to act. Without both of these factors, true innovation will always be out of reach.

This book illustrates two approaches for firms to shape successful circular strategies, namely, the Circular Economy and Circular Districts. The former considers firms' challenges when turning theoretical circular models into practice. Thus, it discusses the opportunities and difficulties in reshaping corporate strategies by reflecting on circular economy principles. The latter approach plays a new role within the new economy systems and this book conceptualizes and operationalizes its definition. The circular district can represent an effective way to accelerate the energy transition process by developing industrial collaborations and exploiting technology synergies to enhance circularity and achieve economic, environmental, and social targets. The book highlights how firms should adjust their strategic thinking, redesign their network of relationships, and reconsider the value creation process when the circular economy is a concrete option. Furthermore, it examines the evolution from circular economy to circular districts by revealing the motivations that push firms and supply chains to redesign their strategies by considering the perspective of a circular district. The book ends by analyzing business experiences in these two areas and proposes advancements for both the scientific community and the business world. The book offers a blend of theoretical frameworks and practical applications and will be of particular interest to scholars in the fields of sustainable operations, closed-loop supply chain, green supply chain management, and circular supply chains. Also, the operationalization of the concept of circular districts, offers a genuine and original theoretical contribution, thus targeting students from Executive programs, MBA programs, and PhD programs. The book will also attract managers, practitioners and professionals interested in real-world cases and experiences as well as practical developments in the domain.

This book provides insights on how to approach and utilize data science tools, technologies and methodologies related to artificial intelligence (AI) in industrial contexts. It explains the essence of distributed computing and AI-technologies, and their inter-connections. Description of various technology and methodology approaches, and their purpose and benefits when developing AI-solution in industrial contexts is included. In addition, it summarizes experiences from AI technology deployment projects from several industrial sectors. Features: Presents compendium of methodologies and technologies in Industrial AI and digitalization. Illustrates sensor to actuation approach showing complete cycle, that defines and differences AI and digitalization concept. Covers a broad range of academic and industrial issues within the field of asset management. Discusses impact of Industry 4.0 in other sectors. Includes a dedicated chapter on real-time case studies. This book is aimed at researchers and professionals in industrial and software engineering, network security, AI and ML, engineering managers, operational and maintenance specialists, asset managers, digital and AI manufacturing specialists.

This book examines the diffusion of digitalization and industry 4.0 technologies in Malaysia by focusing on the ecosystem critical for its expansion. The chapters examine the digital proliferation in major sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, e-commerce and services, as well as the intermediary organizations essential for the orderly performance of socioeconomic agents. The book incisively reviews policy instruments critical for the effective and orderly development of the embedding organizations, and the regulatory framework needed to quicken the appropriation of socioeconomic synergies from digitalization and industry 4.0 technologies. It highlights the importance of collaboration between government, academic and industry partners, as well as makes key recommendations on how to encourage adoption of IR4.0 technologies in the short- and long-term. This book bridges the concepts and applications of digitalization and industry 4.0 and will be a must-read for policy makers seeking to quicken the adoption of its technologies.

This book is dedicated to the analysis of the entrepreneurship in successful companies by presenting and comparing a series of case studies in the Asia-Pacific where many new companies have been growing successfully in the 21th century. In total, 5 cases in the manufacturing industry, 4 cases in the services industry, and 3 cases related to new business and social innovation are chosen from The mainland of China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Each case provides insight into the entrepreneur's aspiration, the processes of personal and business developments, the factors of success, and the inspirations drawn from the analysis. These cases are analyzed and compared from the viewpoints of entrepreneur's motivation, ability of foreseeing changes and opportunities in the future business environment, core resources and innovation, knowledge management and culture for the company, determination and ethos. These are critical factors in value creation for customers and the society, especially in the future business environment. Finally, commonalities and uniquenesses in entrepreneurship relevant to industry sectors and social-economic-cultural contexts are clarified and a typical entrepreneurship model in the Asia-Pacific is proposed.

This book addresses the rapidly changing Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing communication landscape, in particular the shrinking of marketing budgets and the increasing demand for measurable results. Despite the rapid drop of print media usage, the authors suggest the need for increased accountability for the use of advertising media and highlight ways to boost effectiveness. The book provides a robust analysis of the current B2B environment along with a research-informed illustration of the future. Aiming to fill a gap in existing literature and offer new research findings, this study offers a comprehensive guide to assist practitioners in decision-making and a stimulating analysis of the B2B marketing communications landscape which will be of great interest to academics of marketing and communications.

This book examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changing labour markets and accelerating digitalisation of the workplace in Central and Eastern Europe. It provides an innovative and enriching take on the work experience from the pandemic times and discusses the challenges of ongoing changes in labour markets and workplaces in a way that is not covered by the extant literature. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and digitalisation on labour market outcomes is analysed throughout 12 chapters, by 34 labour market experts from various CEE countries. Most chapters are based on empirical methods yet are presented in an easy-to-follow way to make the book also accessible for a non-scientific audience. The volume addresses the three key goals: to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the adoption of workplace digitalisation in the selected labour markets in CEE countries and the potential trade-offs facing those who do and do not have access to this benefit to complement the labour market research by incorporating the outputs of changing demand for skills to contribute new insight into policies and regulations that govern the future of work The book argues that the recent COVID-19 pandemic was a sombre reminder of the relevance and necessity of digital technology for a variety of sectors and market activities. It concludes that to downside the risks of vanishing jobs, as well as to minimise the threats and maximise the opportunities of digitalisation in CEE countries, labour market partners need to consider an effective governance tool in terms of inclusive access to the digital environment, re-skilling, and balanced regulations of the more problematic facets of digital work. The book will be of interest to postgraduate researchers and academics in the fields of labour economics, regional economics, and macroeconomics. Additionally, due to the broader policy implications of the topic, the book will appeal to policymakers and experts interested in labour economics. The Introduction, Chapters 4 and 12 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Blockchain Supply Chain Use Cases. Distributed Ledger Technology Supply Chain Use Cases. Blockchain-Enabled Digital Transformation Use Cases. Blockchain Supply Chain Diffusion/Innovation Use Cases.

This book examines the behavior of high-tech startups and important aspects of innovation ecosystems in Brazil. It discusses how the local business environment boosts startups and high-tech entrepreneurship, leading to the most successful implementation of technology parks and incubation movements in Latin America. In the first part, the chapters explore the experience of Brazilian high-tech startups with regard to innovation, funding, background of the entrepreneur and their efforts entering international markets. The second part is dedicated to innovation ecosystems and explains the role of business incubators, acceleration programs, and university entrepreneurship in the country.

Product design significantly influences product cost and quality, as well as market share and profitability of a firm. Design projects often involve many people belonging to different functional areas and in many organizations several design projects may be under way at the same time. Due to this complexity, management of design has given rise to a rich set of research problems in management and engineering. In this volume, design is considered as the planning and specification activity prior to fabrication. Design determines what products will be produced, how they will be produced, and when they will be introduced into the market. The quality of the products and the speed with which they are developed are significantly affected by the design process. The design process by which a product is developed is determined by the managerial and engineering practices, tools and techniques. This book presents engineering and management perspectives on design. Topics covered include: Decomposition of product development projects; Tools and techniques for preliminary evaluation of designs; Interface between design and manufacturing, assembly and distribution; Design information flows, and Determination of the scope, timing and duration of projects, and the allocation of resources.

Navigating Digital Transformation in Management provides a thorough introduction to the implications of digital transformation for leaders and managers. The book clearly outlines what new or enhanced roles and activities digital transformation requires of them. The book takes a practical approach and shapes an actionable guide that students can take with them into their future careers as managers themselves. With core theoretical grounding, the book explains how the digital transformation imperative requires all organizations to continuously undertake digital business transformation to adapt to ongoing digital disruption and to effectively compete as digital businesses. The book discusses the critical roles managers need to play in establishing, facilitating, and accelerating the day-to-day activities required to build and continuously upgrade these capabilities. Drawing on cutting edge research, this textbook: Explains how digital technology advancements drive digital disruption and why digital business transformation and operating as a digital business are critical to organization survival Unpacks the different digital business capabilities required to effectively compete as a digital business Considers the new or digitally enhanced competencies required of leaders, managers, and their supporting professionals to effectively play their roles in digital transformation Discusses how leaders, managers, and their supporting professionals can keep up with digital technology advancements Unpacks key digital technology advancements, providing a plain language understanding of what they are, how they work, and their implications for organizations Enriched with pedagogical features to support understanding and reinforce learning, such as reflective questions, learning summaries, and case studies, and supported by a suite of instructor materials, this textbook is an ideal choice for teachers that want to enable their information systems, information technology, and digital business students to compete and thrive in the contemporary business environment.

Social science theorists from various scholarly disciplines have contributed to a recent literature that examines how the finance industry has expanded and now wields increasing influence across a variety of economic fields and industries. In some cases, this tendency towards a more sizeable and influential finance industry has been referred to as "the financialization" of the economy. This book explains how what is referred to as the finance-led economy (arguably a more neutral and less emotionally charged term than financialization) is premised on a number of conditions, institutional relations, and theoretical propositions and assumptions, and indicates what the real economic consequences are for market actors and households. The book provides a theoretically condensed but empirically grounded account of the contemporary finance-led economy, in many cases too complicated in its design and rich in detail to be understood equally by insiders-empirical research indicates-and lay audiences. It summarizes the relevant literature and points at two empirical cases, the construction industry and life science venturing, to better illustrate how the expansion of the finance industry has contributed to the capital formation process, and how the sovereign state has actively assisted this process. It offers a credible, yet accessible overview of the economic conditions that will arguably shape economic affairs for the foreseeable future. The book will find an audience amongst a variety of readers, including graduate students, management scholars, policymakers, and management consultants.

It's Our Research: Getting Stakeholder Buy-in for User Experience Research Projects discusses frameworks, strategies, and techniques for working with stakeholders of user experience (UX) research in a way that ensures their buy-in. This book consists of six chapters arranged according to the different stages of research projects. Topics discussed include the different roles of business, engineering, and user-experience stakeholders; identification of research opportunities by developing empathy with stakeholders; and planning UX research with stakeholders. The book also offers ways of teaming up with stakeholders; strategies to improve the communication of research results to stakeholders; and the nine signs that indicate that research is making an impact on stakeholders, teams, and organizations. This book is meant for UX people engaged in usability and UX research. Written from the perspective of an in-house UX researcher, it is also relevant for self-employed practitioners and consultants who work in agencies. It is especially directed at UX teams that face no-time-no-money-for-research situations.

Decoupling of business models and ecosystems is the disconnection of certain characteristic activities originally planned and completed in coincidence. It could bring in an immense adverse shock in the functioning of established business models and ecosystems possibly bringing them to resilience. Core causes for decoupling and resilience of business models and ecosystems are jolts, known as global crisis, universal pandemics, etc. The undesirable outcomes of critical events can reveal unique circumstances for business model and ecosystem resilience. Business model and ecosystem resilience represents a mandatory prerequisite for firms challenging their functioning and even very existence. Research has been conducted thus far, nevertheless this theme requires significantly more consideration. The key objective of this book is to bring further insights in the field delivering a thorough examination of the ways in which business models and ecosystems can develop resilience under extraordinary conditions. In the book, the resilience of business models and ecosystems is analysed aiming to investigate further the specifics of the relevant processes securing resilience and its outcomes. The resilience of business models and ecosystems is scrutinised as a credible way for enhancing the predispositions of firm's survivability.

This book is a timely guide for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) researchers, policy makers and strategists. SMEs are the most important sources of job creation and local development especially in knowledge-based economies. As turbulence in the globalized economies expands SMEs will have to learn to sustain competitiveness by developing their 'dynamic capabilities'. Based on the findings of a 4-year European and Latin American research project, this book provides a theoretical framework, practical instruments and cases on how SMEs in diverse economic, social and cultural contexts can develop crisis resilience, increase agility, innovate and thus successfully compete in turbulent times.

This book is at the cutting edge of the ongoing 'neo-Schumpeterian' research program that investigates how economic growth and its fluctuation can be understood as the outcome of a historical process of economic evolution. Much of modern evolutionary economics has relied upon biological analogy, especially about natural selection. Although this is valid and useful, evolutionary economists have, increasingly, begun to build their analytical representations of economic evolution on understandings derived from complex systems science. In this book, the fact that economic systems are, necessarily, complex adaptive systems is explored, both theoretically and empirically, in a range of contexts. Throughout, there is a primary focus upon the interconnected processes of innovation and entrepreneurship, which are the ultimate sources of all economic growth. Twenty two chapters are provided by renowned experts in the related fields of evolutionary economics and the economics of innovation.

* The book is balanced and comprehensive, recognising that both affordability and investment into innovation are necessary * The book is original, using ecological concepts to understand pharmaceutical innovation as an ecosystem. * The book is unique in its research foundation, building on the views of more than 70 expert informants from all parts of the pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem and all sides of the debate about drug pricing.

This book comprises a set of stories about being an engineer for many decades and the lessons the author learned from research and practice. These lessons focus on people and organizations, often enabled by technology. The settings range from airplanes, power plants, and communication networks to ecosystems that enable education, healthcare, and transportation. All of these settings are laced with behavioral and social phenomena that need to be understood and influenced. The author's work in these domains has often led to the question: "Well, why does it work like that?" He invariably sought to understand the bigger picture to find the sources of requirements, constraints, norms, and values. He wanted to understand what could be changed, albeit often with much effort to overcome resistance. He found that higher levels of an ecosystem often provide the resources and dictate the constraints imposed on lower levels. These prescriptions are not just commands. They also reflect values and cultural norms. Thus, the answers to the question were not just technical and economic. Often, the answers reflected eons of social and political priorities. The endeavors related in the book frequently involved addressing emerging realities rather than just the status quo. This book is an ongoing discovery of these bigger pictures. The stories and the lessons related in this book provide useful perspectives on change. The understanding of people and organizations that emerges from these lessons can help to enable transformative change. Fundamental change is an intensely human-centric endeavor, not just for the people and organizations aspiring to change, but also for the people helping them. You will meet many of these people in this book as the stories unfold. The genesis of this book originated in a decision made early in the author's career. He had developed a habit of asking at the end of each day, "What did I really accomplish today?" This was sometimes frustrating as he was not sure the day had yielded any significant accomplishments. One day it dawned on him that this was the wrong question - He needed to ask, "What did I learn today?" It is always possible to learn, most recently about public health and climate change. In planning this book, the author first thought in terms of accomplishments such as projects conducted, systems built, and articles and books published. He could not imagine this being interesting to readers. Then, it struck him - It is much more interesting to report on what he learned about people and organizations, including how he helped them accomplish their goals. This is a book of stories about how these lessons emerged. In planning this book, the author first thought in terms of accomplishments such as projects conducted, systems built, and articles and books published. He could not imagine this being interesting to readers. Then, it struck him - It is much more interesting to report on what he learned about people and organizations, including how he helped them accomplish their goals. This is a book of stories about how these lessons emerged.

This book examines the impact of industry 4.0, and constructs a strategic digital transformation operational framework to prepare for it. It begins by examining the background of industry 4.0, exploring the industrial internet, new business models and disruptive technologies, as well as the challenges that this revolution brings for industries and manager. The research enhances our understanding of strategic digital transformation framework within industry 4.0. It will be valuable reading for academics working in the field of industry 4.0 and strategy, as well as practitioners interested in enhancing their firms' readiness for industry 4.0.

Trust and Digital Business: Theory and Practice brings together the theory and practice of trust and digital business. The book offers a look at the current state, including a comprehensive overview of both research and practical applications of trust in business. Readers will gain from this book in the following areas: knowledge across disciplines on trust in business, theoretical underpinnings of trust and how it sustains itself through digital dissemination, and empirically validated practice regarding trust and its related concepts. The international team of authors from seven countries (Finland, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Turkey, and the U.S.) ensures the diversity and quality of the content. The intended audiences of this book are professionals, scholars, and students.